To love, To Grow, To inspire

What we've been up to……..this weekend we had a family wedding… So much FUN…I'm from a large family and when we get together, it's always a super fun time.......

​Music on… AND AWAY Carter GOES…. He loves to DANCE!!! I CANT say I blame him.. he does have my rhythm…..

​ Family is Everything!!!! It’s something I take pride in….. we don’t get to see each other as often as when I was younger, but when we do…. It makes for a really really good time…. Growing up we lived closer to each other, but now some live far and some live near…. My family is super supportive, and my cousin was quick to bring up the blog and how he liked to read it (super proud moment for me-Thanks A) .……My aunt suggested I do a blog on “How I lost weight” and since Ive been asked about it by several readers as well, I decided to go for it……… (bring on my awkwardness)

​Soooo.....How did I lose weight… Yeek!!!! NOT a comfortable subject to talk about… I try to seem confident about it and try to be proud of my accomplishments, but honestly…. It is HARD for me to talk about-weight is an awkward subject…..years in the making and hard to change … First off, people have judgments about weight and weight loss, and I'm my worst critic…to me, there is no perfect size… there is just you..... and how you feel…. so I figured to help me “get over" my awkwardness, I might as well write about it…..

​One year ago, I set out to be healthy and lose the “baby weight.” I wanted to feel good for myself and to be healthy for my family…. So I set out with a goal… lose the baby weight…. I knew this wasn’t going to be easy, but I was determined…I’d done it in the past so I could do it again….. Arggggg but totally true…… I have tried all different types of plans, diets, programs, etc…… I still go on a sugar cleanse and/or a detox-especially after the holidays, but in general, what really works for me is calorie counting and meal planning….Here is what I did and what I do to stay on track......

Workouts are a MUST!!! Leaving Piyo!!!!!! EXHAUSTED!!!!

Be Honest with YOURSELF.......So “they” say that staying healthy is 20% exercise ( click pic for my blog post on my workout regimen) and 80% nutrition…. IM definitely not “they” or any kind of expert… I have to be honest with myself… Long term speaking, I know IM going to eat dark chocolate- not every day but sometimes… so if I do, I have to add in those calories…. If I plan to go out for drinks, then I have to eat lots of veggies during the day to save up calories…. I think of it like my bank account… If I don’t have it, I cant get it…. So I must save for it…. I want to enjoy life but also have a healthy long life so to maintain things; I have to calorie count…. This makes life realistic for me….

One bite DOES count- if I don’t know the calories and cant Google it, then a small bite is always at least 100 calories… better to be over than under.Staying organized and making things easy on busy workdays is a MUST…. I wouldn’t and wont be successful without it….

​I meal PREP and PLAN on SUNDAY … Sunday Funday…. I prep lunches. It helps me stay healthy during the week and makes packing lunches so simple… I don’t have to take time or make time… I can just grab and go….. I actually do the same for Carter’s lunches- super simple. My Lunch.... I make ALL my lunches and snacks on Sunday for the entire week.... I just stack them in the fridge so they are ready to grab and go!

​ (Recipe for these Cheddar Bay Bread Clouds- soon to come…..Delic)

Carter Lunches.......For Carter’s lunches, since they DO NOT stack nicely, I use a large plastic Rubbermaid bowl and in goes everything…. I separate each item into sections so I can just grab and put into his lunchbox..... 5 lunches DONE all on Sunday....

​When we get home from school... its out with the old and in with the new..…..packed and ready to grab the next morning… .

Dinners....​Meal Planning. I also plan out my dinners on Sunday......My weeknight dinners always take less than 30 minutes … start to finish….. it cant be more… I want to get it done and then enjoy my night. I use this calendar and plan out what we have for the week. I find most of my recipes on Pinterest or from Laura Vitale (she’s my fav) … I just experiment until I find what tastes the best….. Have I mentioned I love Pinterest….

Helpful Tip: My Fitness App makes things super convenient… it gives calories (micros if you’re into the little details) of items and lets you log a daily food journal….I started with this App to food journal….. Such a great way to start…… I highly recommend it….… This way, even on cheat days or when we go out to eat.… Im not really cheating…. It all must stay the same calorie count….:0)

​A Look at Life this week… we started another sport's season… BASKETBALL!!!! Carter loves to play- takes after his dad on this one……. Colby loves to pass the ball to Carter…. Boys will be boys…. Much Love!!!!